Buffy Starseed: The Trainee Years
by senpai chan
Summary: The spilled blood of the Key was still apparently effective, and an ancient Grecian artifact comes to life. Buffy, in an effort to save her sister, get’s transported to a universe very unlike her own, and only 3 years old! relocated story
1. In Which Buffy Joins Another Council

Buffy Starseed: The Trainee Years

Buffy Starseed: The Trainee Years

Disclaimer: I own none of Joss' lovely creations, or Lucas' ingenious universe. (Weep) But I totally own this idea! It's my first posted story, so encouragement and helpful points is appreciated. A beta would be nice too, but I might have to put that on the same wish list as a pony.

Summary: The spilled blood of the Key was still apparently effective, and an ancient Grecian artifact comes to life. Buffy, in an effort to save her sister, get's transported to a universe very unlike her own, and only 3 years old! (Pre- Phantom Menace 42 years)

Chapter 1: In Which Buffy Joins Another Council

Dawn followed closely behind her older sister, thanking all of the gods Willow and Tara had taught her about, for the foresight to wear flats. The temple ruins weren't a problem for a Slayer, but the twenty-two year old Watcher was having a bit of difficultly scrambling over the fallen pillars. As Buffy threw a slab of marble away to reveal a hidden passageway Dawn groaned inwardly. '_Great, more bloody scrambling about in dark cramped quarters!'_

The Grecian ruins were discovered by tourist, believe it or not. Luckily, the tour guide had connections to the Council, mostly to keep people away from the truly dangerous ruins. This was supposed to be a temple of sorts dedicated to Cronos, Titian of Time and Space, and an incredibly violent and volatile immortal. The Council immediately dispatched the eldest Slayer and the newest official Watcher, Dawn to deal with whatever nastiness was probably buried in the ruins and retrieve The Blade of Time and Space, which was said to be buried in a lost Greek ruins.

Dank and musty as the basement of the ancient temple was, Buffy didn't make a single quip. Much of the light the oldest Slayer held had faded, thanks to so many years of slaying when all her predecessors had long since been laid to rest. The destruction of Angel and the Fang Gang had been a heavy blow, followed not six months later the news of the death of Willow, Xander, and two baby Slayers, who gave up their lives to keep the Cleveland Hellmouth from opening. As these morose memories chased themselves around Buffy's mind, she was distracted from her tingly spider sense.

Suddenly, a mob of black robed me sprang out and attacked Buffy, three breaking off to grab Dawn.

"Freedom of the true gods, all hail the Titians!"cried the leading attacker, charging madly with two knives.

Though startled, Buffy smoothly pivoted on the balls of one foot, lashing out with the other, and sending the lead robed figure flying back. Drawing her sword quickly, Buffy blocked the downward strike of another figure's knife, a long and wickedly curved blade. Continuing to strike with liquid speed and grace, in a matter of minutes Buffy managed to dispatch all her attackers as well as finish off the last of Dawn's enemies, Dawn herself taking out two of them with the knives Spike taught her to fight with. But not before the last dying figure slashed Dawn's thigh, and smeared her blood across a statue of what looked like the Grim Reaper's staff, blade included. With a furious slash, Buffy cleanly removed his head.

"Dawnie, where's your med kit," Buffy asked urgently, hoping the deranged idiot hadn't hit an artery. Dawn tossed her the kit, standard equipment for all Slayers and Watchers, and continued to clench her teeth. It burned like a bitch, and Dawn was more than happy to let Buffy patch her up.

Buffy made a hasty tourniquet, stopping the blood flow, and then gently bandaged her sister's leg. With a final twist, Buffy secured her bandage job, 'though a professional would definitely have to take a look,' decided Buffy.

"Uh, Buffy…" Dawn said, her eyes getting huge. Buffy followed her line of vision and saw just what was so shocking. The Blade of Time and Space was glowing green, the color of the Key.

"Now that just can't be good," Buffy stated, drawing Dawn and herself slowly away from the glowing, and now vibrating, object. "Dawn, just what does this thing do?"

"Well that's the thing," replied Dawn shakily with fear and blood loss, "we don't really know."

"And our day keeps getting' better," muttered Buffy. Or at least she tried to mutter, because then wide band of green light shot out, and Buffy quickly covered Dawn, letting one of the beams strike her instead. With a short shriek of pain, Buffy herself briefly glowed Key-green, and disappeared.

"NOOOO, BUFFY!" screamed Dawn.

"SO MOTE IT BE, MY DEBT IS PAID." came a sonorous voice from what seemed to be all corners of the room. The Blade of Time and Space stopped glowing, plunging Dawn into darkness.

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Terrible pain ripped through Buffy's body as she hurtled though an entirely green space. With an abrupt and jarring slam however, Buffy's trip halted, though nothing but more green seemed to surround her.

"Hey kid, long time no see," came the Bronx accented voice, to whom Buffy ascribed all her troubles…or most of them any way.

"Whistler, how I dream that I'd never see you again." Buffy snarked, the lingering pain coursing through her veins making her crankier than usual, which is to say something since she hated Whistler.

"Well Slayer, you're actually gonna get that wish. Now hang on," Whistler said, holding up a hand to stall Buffy's questions, "lemme tell ya what's gonna happen before ya start ya questions. First, the demon called Cronos, fella who made and used the Blade of Time and Space, owed this other universe, 'cause he unbalanced it, lettin' in an influx of evil. Now, they managed to right themselves back, but Cronos stilled owed them. So now the Powers from that universe have cashed the check, and you're the pay-off sweetheart."

"What the hell Whistler, why me? Haven't I done enough? And how the hell do I get back home?" Buffy was so sick of the Powers that Be screwing her over, and really wanted to rip out Whistlers ribcage. The balance demon must have seen something terrifying in her eyes, and quickly finished his explanation.

"Well that's just it kid, this is a one way ticket, and well, you aren't gonna be the same person even." Seeing the rage build up in the Slayer's eyes, Whistler said a hasty good bye, and sent her zipping off again, glad that he would never have to deal with her again.

As Buffy fell onward, she saw her life play out in front of her eyes, from the moment she was born, to being called, dying the first time, Dawn being inserted, dying the second time, Heaven, coming back to life, dying the third time and being revived by Willow, defeating the First, and every memory she'd ever had, even if she couldn't remember it before.

'_These will be held for you,' _came a gentle mental voice, more of a feeling than actual sound. '_You can live your new life without regrets to hinder you, and in time, you will regain all you have lost." _Then darkness came over Buffy and she knew no more.

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Ki-Adi-Mundi walked slowly down to the lower levels of Coruscant, not sure why the Force was leading him there. He was a new Knight, and soon headed home to start a family, since males were rarely born on Cerea the Jedi Council made an exception for him. But for now the Force was pulsing brightly, an almost visible line leading to something…or someone.

After ten minutes more of scrambling over garbage, and ducking low hanging ceilings, Ki-Adi-Mundi nearly stumbled over the very thing the Force was leading him to. A very young and quite small humanoid girl. She was wrapped in oversized clothes of a make that Ki-Adi-Mundi could not identify, and shivering. And she practically glowed in his Force-sense. Making a quick decision, Ki-Adi-Mundi scooped up the child, wrapped her in his cloak, and made his way back to the Jedi Temple, not knowing that this simple act would change the fate of the Jedi forever.


	2. A Trio is Formed

Disclaimer- Ha, me own Buffy or the Star Wars universe?! I am an exceedingly poor college kid who lives off her scholarships and grants. I own nuthin'.

Chapter 2: A Trio is Formed

After having the left the child with the Healers, who told him that the girl was fine except she would be very hungry when she awoke, Ki-Adi-Mundi went to seek out Yoda. Wisest of the Jedi Order, if anyone would know what to do with such a Force-sensitive child, it would be Yoda.

Ki-Adi-Mundi found Yoda in the Star Room, just releasing a class of Younglings for lunch. They all bowed respectfully to Yoda and Ki-Adi-Mundi, but then quickly raced off to reach the dinning hall first. The eight hundred odd years old creature shook his head fondly, and then turned his attention to the Cerean.

"Troubled you are, to seek out me so early in the day," commented Yoda, his old eyes shrewd.

"During my morning meditation I felt the Force urging me to go, though I knew not where I was being sent or why," Ki-Adi-Mundi began. "However, after a while of descending to the lower levels of the city, I came across a young girl. Master Yoda, she, she shone with the power of the Force! I brought her to the healers for treatment, but past that point my ingenuity fails me."

"Correct you were, in coming to me. See the girl myself, I will, and ascertain if training she will receive," said Master Yoda. Without another word the aged Jedi master stumped off toward the turbo-lifts, leaving the Cerean Knight feeling a bit at loose ends. Then with a small shake of his long head Ki-Adi-Mundi set off back to his rooms to finish packing.

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The tiny blonde Knight Ki-Adi-Mundi brought in was still sleeping peacefully, Healer Paol noted with satisfaction, and with one more check to make sure the girl wouldn't awake while she was out, Healer Paol left for lunch.

However, while the young girl would have probably slept peacefully, the Force works in mysterious way. In any case, who should come into the infirmary mere minutes later but two Younglings, the five year old Qui-Gon Jinn and a six years old Mace Windu. Who were bickering…loudly.

"I said I was sorry Mace, anger leads to the dark side you know," said the irritated Qui-Gon.

"And I told you to not listen to Dass, but you never listen t'me. And don't tell me about anger, you're the one who Force-shoved Dass first," Mace shot back, cradling a sprained wrist.

"Still wasn't my fault," Qui-Gon said stubbornly. "Dass should learn how to focus better, since he hit us both back with a messy Force-push."

"Wha's goin' on? Where am I?"

Both boys froze at the sound of the sleepy, high pitched, girlish voice. Sitting on the third bed from the door was a very small blonde human girl, rubbing at her eyes in order to wake up more fully.

"Uhhh," Qui-Gon said, staring. He had never seen this girl before, and he knew all of the trainees in his age group by sight if not name. The little girl continued to look at Mace and Qui-Gon expectantly.

"We were just looking for a Healer to fix my wrist…" Mace said, trailing off awkwardly. The blonde continued to look at him and Qui-Gon, and Mace gave a helpless look to his best friend.

"You're at the Jedi Temple," Qui-Gon informed the girl, a bit of pride in his voice. However the girl seemed nonplused at that answer as well. "I'm Qui-Gon Jinn and this is Mace Windu," he added, hoping to get more of a reaction out of the girl. The girl's face scrunched up as she began to speak.

"I'm Buffy…Buffy…" a look of panic began in the girl's face, and her green eyes began to fill with tears. "I don' 'member my last na-name!" Sobbed the little girl, and Qui-Gon and Mace traded twin looks of alarm as Buffy buried her face in her hands and continued to cry quietly. The older Jedi caretakers usually that usually looked after the younger initiates dealt with situations like this and the boys were at a loss for what to do. Hesitantly Mace patted the girl on the back, his eyes telling Qui-Gon to do _something._

"Ummm, well don't worry you're safe here," Qui-Gon said, tugging Buffy's hands away from her face. "And the Jedi masters know everything," he continued, as he saw the girl had stopped crying and was only hiccupping quietly. Qui-Gon brushed a few stray tears off Buffy's face and gave her encouraging smile.

"Spoke well have you, youngling," came a well-known voice from the doorway. Qui-Gon and Mace spun around and snapped to attention and bowed, Mace wincing a bit as he did as he had forgotten about his sprained wrist.

"Amiss is something young one?" The sharp-eyed Jedi Master asked, seeing the wince. Mace nodded and held out his bruised and sprained wrist, not speaking.

"Ah, enough of a good healer am I, to fix this." Yoda said, his old eyes smiling. Stretching out a clawed hand, Yoda held his had over Mace's injured wrist, and concentrated on the Living Force, encouraging it to speed up the healing process. Mace sighed with relief as the stabbing pain in his wrist subsided.

"While not everything known is to the Jedi, know I do this. The Force by which you were sent, reason there was. Find out that reason I will, and in the mean time, trained to be a Jedi you will be." Yoda, unknown to the three younglings, had been outside the Healers wing since the two boys entered, curious to see how they interacted. The Force pulsed brightly around them, and it was the utter rightness of the feeling that convinced Yoda to offer the girl training even without the other council members consent. He would convince them later, Yoda decided, and turned his thoughts to the problem at hand. That being what to do with three younglings staring at him expectantly. Lucky for him Buffy's stomach made it's self heard just then by a loud rumble, which made the pale girl flush red as both boys looked at her, wondering how such a tiny girl made such a large sound.

"Food in order is younglings. Buffy you two will take to the dinning hall, supper you need all. Here she will return, for the healers to later release they will." Yoda decided, and shooed the hesitant trio out of the room.

The noisy dining hall after the peaceful, if somewhat strained, silence of the halls was too much for Buffy. She hid behind the two taller boys as she felt as though the entire eating group of students were looking at her, as well as the masters, knights, and their padawans, some who taught there and others who were resting between missions. In truth only the students were looking at her, the older groups with little interest as the younger years were of little importance to them, and the younger students with curiosity, as not many students joined them past the age of two that they had not seen before.

Now normally Buffy felt that she wasn't all that afraid of people, but after waking up and not remembering anything, not even her last name, she was feeling out of sorts. And she refused to even think about if she'd remembered her first name correctly. Instead she allowed herself to be gently herded over to the servers, letting Mace and Qui-Gon decided on her dinner, as she had no idea what anything was.

Mace was beginning to get worried; the girl Buffy had begun to look scared as the three of them entered the hall, and Mace and Qui-Gon had stayed in front of her to keep the others from staring at her. But as Qui-Gon began leading them back to their usual spot with their other year mates and friends, Buffy looked a bit fearful. What Mace didn't realize was that he was more feeling Buffy's fear than seeing. Giving a slight kick to Qui-Gon's shin, for which he got a glare, he nodded his head at the blonde girl, and moved more towards an emptier table. With a hesitant look back at their friends, Qui-Gon followed after his best friend.

Dinner past in a haze of questions and answers, after halfway through the meal Buffy regained her nerve and began asking questions, like what she was eating for one. The walk back to the healers was in silence as well as Buffy thought about what Jedi were, the Force which seemed to be the reason she was here and couldn't remember anything. She wasn't sure if she should be mad at this Force thing or not. After bidding the two boys goodnight, she fell asleep wondering about this.

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Over the next week Buffy attended classes with the two boys and the other children in their age range. Mace was assigned to be her guide, and Qui-Gon was never far from his best friend, making the sight of the tall dark skinned boy, the loud Qui-Gon and an inquisitive blonde shadow a usual sight around the temple as the two boys showed the girl all the places they were allowed and a few places that they weren't. It wasn't until a meditation class the next week that the bond of the trio was truly made.

Buffy still didn't get the point of the sitting on the floor until your butt falls asleep from boredom, but their master for meditation insisted it was a vital part of being a Jedi. She let her eyes close and let her mind wander to a fight she's seen between a knight and his teenage padawan. Initiates weren't actually allowed to the older Jedi's training rooms, but Mace and Qui-Gon had showed her how to enter the air ducts, by-passing the locking mechanism. They moved so fluidly and gracefully, she remembered dreamily, dancing like she used to on ice…

Her eyes snapped open, unfortunately loosing the stray memory. Snatches would come, like skating on ice, when something reminded her, but she never remembered much. Sighing, quietly so Master Ikano wouldn't hear her, Buffy half shut her eyes and looked around for Qui-Gon and Mace. Stifling a giggle when she finally did spot them, she saw them seated a few feet in front of her, splashing a little water at each other. Since they were meditating in the room of One Thousand fountains, a little water was expected, a fact the two boys were exploiting. However, since they were concentrating on splashing each other with what little Force control they had, all three of them missed the nasty look that passed Dass Jenir's face.

Now the boy was a bully, but worse, he was a sneaky bully. He stuck to small bits of nastiness so it would go unnoticed, which usually worked. Qui-Gon had not let his dislike of Dass go untold, and had made an effort to keep Buffy away from him. Mace wanted to give Dass the benefit of the doubt, but had also kept Buffy away from the other boy, telling himself that Buffy was still getting settled and could meet new people later. So as Dass gave a shove of the Force to a pool of water, his lack of control struck again, and instead of soaking Qui-Gon, Buffy received a face-full of water.

Choking and spluttering Buffy fell backwards in surprise while Mace and Qui-Gon glared fiercely at the smirking boy. Dass, though he had missed his target, felt that by hitting Qui-Gon and Mace's new little follower was as good as a hit on either boy. However, Qui-Gon and Mace's concentration was greatly helped by focusing on a common enemy, and a large wave of water swamped Dass, soaking him from crown to soles. This naturally caught the instructor's attention, and he moved toward the quarreling group.

"Now what is going on here-" What ever else the teacher wanted to say was interrupted by Buffy sending her own wave at Dass. Her control over the Force was tenuous to say the least, and the water splashed not only Dass but also the teacher and several nearby students. Marak Feirn, a playful Calmarine was one of the splashed students, and called loudly-

"WATER FIGHT!"

And the poor teacher lost control as all the students began throwing water, with either the Force or by simple physical means. The chaos continued for about ten minutes, before in the middle of the shrieking, watery fight, all of the water halted in the air.

"Not imagined had I, that meditation this was," came a gravelly voice, and in horror, the young initiates saw Master Yoda in the doorway. After seeing the shamed faces, Yoda launched into a long lecture about the Force and misusing it. All while holding up the water that was going to be used in the fight.

"As punishment, fitting it should be for you all to clean up mess that you have made," Yoda finished, releasing the water he had been holding. Several of the students yelped, or whatever their equivalent was, as water dropped on them and Master Ikano came back from the supply closet with drying rags in his hands.

As they mopped up the water near each other, Buffy felt the need to apologize.

"Sorry for getting you in trouble-" she began, before Mace and Qui-Gon waved her apology off.

"Its our fault too, shouldn'ta gave stupid Dass the idea to splash us in the first place," Qui-Gon said, wringing his rag into a bucket.

"Watch your language Qui-Gon," Mace scolded. "Besides, we'll get him back more quietly next time," Mace continued, giving the other two a gap toothed grin, as he had lost a tooth a few days before.

And you know as they say (though who this "they" are I don't know and would like a word with) nothing forges a friendship like challenges shared, so it was with Buffy, Mace and Qui-Gon.


End file.
